41 thoughts on “Just once, Lord, just once. . .”

    1. Yup – well and truly scent marked. Pretty impressive.

      I saw one in our back yard a few months ago beautiful animal, but no convenient camera – one of our cats (titan the moronic ten legged wonder) decided that it was invading his territory and had to be sorted out. So he headed off in that direction and had to be quickly grabbed before he was converted into a light pre-dinner snack.

    2. You said it. i hope he doesn’t encounter any other bobcats before he takes a good long shower.

    1. From the article:

      But usually, at about 10 p.m., her pupils dilate and she gets zany, racing and leaping around the house like a Howler monkey who just spotted a jaguar. When my wife and I try to pick her up when she’s in this kind of mood, she typically responds with something between a love bite and a flesh-tearing chomp.

      That’s because Turbo Cat is not Cuddle Cat. Turbo Cat is play-time cat. Baihu will literally bounce off and / or climb walls when he becomes Turbo Cat. Time to break out the fastest-moving, most exciting toys — the bird feathers on the end of a wand, the laser pointer if your cat hasn’t figured it out yet, that sort of thing.

      Some cats like to instantly transform from Turbo Cat to Cuddle cat when they’re out of breath, and then instantly back again when the rest is over. Being able to read these lightning-quick mood swings is a very important skill….

      b&

      1. Yeah. Expecting a cat to conform its mood to your wishes is futile, and a little bit not so nice.

        Of all the cats I’ve shared living space with, the one running the highest boost was an Abyssinian we named Ender (a wreaker of havoc yet totally innocent). He would sprint full speed round and round the living room running across walls, furniture and other obstacles like a motorcyclist riding the wall of death. If you happened to be sitting on the couch at the time he would inevitably take the opportunity to use your face for traction.

        He was truly awesome. From sitting at rest he could instantly leap to above head height and do four flips with three twists (or something like that) while going after a thrown toy, and catch it every single time.

        1. I’m frequently amazed by the athletic abilities of cats, even older ones past their prime. Most pro sports teams would kill to have somebody even half as dextrous with a fraction of the strength to weight ratio.

          b&

  4. I’ve never been affeard o’ bobcats. I had a hell of a time trying to get a glimpse of them when I lived in an area abundant with bobcats. They seem to avoid humans as best they can. While they’re a big enough cat to nom small children, I can’t imagine them nomming a teenager. They can undoubtedly do some damage if you corner them though. Always wished I could have one as a pet.

  6. You should make a trip to South Africa. It is very easy to arrange interactions with big cats there, as the following video illustrates: http://youtu.be/IHSblFkJ6-Y. I’ve petted cheetahs in Cape Town and lion cubs in Johannesburg. I’ve also seen wild rooikat (caracal) on Table Mountain, in the middle of Cape Town. There many private game reserves where you can get very close to all the big cats.

  7. Wow. That cat’s almost as big as my Big Orange Tabby. 😉

    But I will say this: That cat in the video is NOT one for which you miss feeding time twice.

      1. Well, he can celebrate the fact he still has sweaters. Every time I visited that tiger he made a point of tearing mine to shreds. As he grew and still wanted to ‘play’ I had to start wearing leather (to protect my skin), which really isn’t ideal in warm Andalusian weather 🙂

  9. I know all of the arguments for not having big cats like this. However, if I could pet one that had been anesthetized for another purpose and didn’t known I was there, I’d love to snuzzle my face into a snow leopard’s belly. Alas, that doesn’t seem to be likely so I just give the Snow Leopard Trust money…. wistful sigh.

      1. Don’t tempt me. 🙂 I’ve already had one long tall tabby (not a Savannah) that raced around the house and loved to sit on top of doors as his “trees”.

        1. Heh…Baihu does that, too, but he can’t quite jump to the top of a door in a single bound. Instead, he’ll jump 2/3 up the closed security screen door, and then walk up that the rest of the way to the top of the open front door….

          b&

    3. When I worked for a major metropolitan zoo in the Big Cat House for a few weeks, I helped take an anesthetized adult male lion out of his cage to be put into the veterinarian’s truck. It was my job to hold his head’s weight during the transfer. I have to say while it was a remarkable experience, he was fairly grimy and smelled quite strongly of urine. I don’t know if this was because he was a zoo animal or because he was ill, but I was not in the least inclined to kiss him 🙂

      I have always had housecats and know how clean they are, but I do not know if Big Cats are as clean, or not. Male lions can’t possibly clean that mane with their paws and tongues. It’s very dense fur, and very long.

      Maybe someone reading this knows more about this topic?

      2. I’m guessing that the lion may have smelled of urine if he was sick. I’ve been fairly close to some wild cats and haven’t noticed an odor like that.

  10. If I’d known you could make a living raising/rescuing/observing animals I’d have considered a science career for sure! I thought my only animal-loving options were vet (I’m allergic to cats) or lizard vet (ewwww)

    Oh well, c’est la vie. As the only girl in my family going to college at all was due to stubbornness more than career aspirations

  11. Only the chance of petting big kitties drives Jerry to invoke the name of the “Lord” – LOL 😉

    1. I don’t think the video colour is particularly accurate – the white balance is probably off with the mixed light sources.

  13. You could probably contact the public relations or fundraising departments of one of these zoos and trade some fund raising effort for a chance to play with one of the cats.

    1. Lucky!

      I’ve seen (in the wild) almost all the large mammals of N. America — but never a big cat. I’ve seen cougar tracks, kills, scratches, etc.; but never the live beast.

      1. I’m just as glad I haven’t seen a cougar up close while hiking…We saw the bobcat cut right in front of us while driving. Have seen some moose very close while on foot.

        Typo ergo sum Merilee

        >

  16. Director Michael Mann’s film “Manhunter” (the first and best Hannibal Lector movie) has an astonishing scene of a blind woman being given the opportunity to stroke a sedated big cat.

  17. The bobcat is described as a rescue animal, explaining why it doesn’t nom the kid.

    Can someone explain this? Is a rescue animal more likely to be affectionate towards people in general, or only to the rescuer?

    1. I’ll speculate that what was meant was that the animal had been separated from its mother quite early and had been bottle fed and well socialised. Certainly this is not how a wild specimen would behave. I think about all one could say is that such animals are unpredictable and as it approaches maturity, it will be less safe.

      Having seen what one of our cats has done to the door jamb, I have to wonder what their house looks like.

      1. Not only do big cats need big scratching posts, many (most? all?) mark their territory with urine. “Not exactly housebroken” would be an apt description.

        b&

  18. That would be bliss but I’ve seen what domestic cat claws can do by accident, I’d hate to have a similar accident with a larger cat.

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